A/N (Aroihkin's Notes) 04.10.2005:

Review-replies at the bottom, like always. Not much to note, here, except that I am--as usual--fairly displeased with the chapter. But that's what happens when you re-read it too much as you write it, heh, so there's a possibility of a re-polish later.

I know I update slowly, kids. I also work full-time for Home Depot, RP on VideoLand MUSH as Ramirez, and juggle about a dozen different stories. So yeah, it goes slow sometimes when I'm determined to go for quality over speed. :)

As a result, the end product will rock. Hopefully. It'll just take a while to -get- there.

05.02.2010: All scene-dividers have been eaten, again, on all of my stories. I give up. Please just go read this story on arowrites dot net where it hasn't been made incoherent; I am unable to keep up with this site's stupidity.

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Chapter Three
Delusional Illusion

Ramirez had always been the sort to wake in one heaving, crashing moment. His thoughts... so fragmented in sleep, rushed toward one another in a single heartbeat, and his eyes snapped open. The steel plates and rivets of a Valuan ship cabin ceiling was to be expected, but...

...but, the many concerned faces hovering mere feet above his head were -not- expected at all. The Admiral flinched, pressing his head back more firmly against the cot, fists and teeth clenching by reflex. Were they -mad-! He should kill them all, right here, on principal. He would begin his vengeance of Lord Galcian's death by -hand- if he had to.

Ramirez would personally snap every single human neck on Arcadia if that's what it took! But... but... no.

No.

He was a master tactician, ruthless... but never rash. If he acted in haste now, if he allowed his grief to overpower his reasoning, he would fail his Lord. Fail him most miserably, tarnish the truth of all the man had taught him, the only truth there was...

/ I won't allow that, no more than he would. /

Slow inhale, an even slower exhale, and for the first time since reawakening, Ramirez blinked.

The Silvite was always aware of himself when he awoke, his immediate memories sharp. He remembered now, in the moment that his mind had gathered, that he'd somehow been changed in appearance into Vyse. There was no second wave of confusion after the first, that was just the way it was.

An Admiral could not afford to be dull-minded upon waking... especially in an emergency. If this... situation was not an emergency, well, he'd personally scrub the Monoceros' deck with a toothbrush.

"...and he appears to be delusional." a quiet, familiar voice reached him, and Ramirez turned his head to look past the forms hovering immediately around and over him. White, thread-bare jacket and the remains of a familiar uniform. Doc. Of all the people to have look him over...

"...I think we need to take him back to Crescent Isle."

"No." Ramirez interrupted them suddenly, trying not to notice the strangeness of his voice. "We must hurry to Soltis."

If he had somehow been put into Vyse's body, it stood to some reason that Vyse would either be in his... or that he was finally dead. Either way, Ramirez may still be able to use the Crystal...

His mind seemed to be spinning even faster than usual to come up with a plan. Fueled by desperation, most probably, and that meant he'd need to reconsider it more carefully later. But right now, it was at least something to aim for. Better to aim at gut instinct than stand indecisive.

If his true form was dead, he reasoned, and Zelos had not yet claimed it, he would grab the Crystal and use it to command the Gigas. Cut it out of his proper body, if it hadn't yet become dust for whatever reason... who knew how it would work without a Silvite's soul flickering to a stop within?

Perhaps the body would simply rot, like a mere human's. The mental image the thought summoned had his body heaving without result a few seconds later, alien fingers grasping the side of the cot where he leaned over. Wonderful, apparently whatever had been done to him had left him with the air-pirate's inexperience with death. What his mind knew and accepted, the rest couldn't yet handle... his stomach lurched, and someone dared put a 'comforting' hand on his back.

/ Not for long. It will all be over soon. / Ramirez sank back onto the cot with Fina's urging, and closed his eyes a moment. They were so close, so damnably close, those who had helped kill his Lord, his only hope. And yet the brunt of the trauma to his mind had faded while unconscious, and it felt as though the sorrow had been... left behind. Displaced. He was too clear-headed, too understanding of the situation...

Honestly, that was already starting to scare him. Or at least, it was unsettling. His stubborn, Silvite mind had clearly decided to plant its feet, draw its sword, and sit in soldier-mode until the rest of him caught up.

/ Surely, they will take me to Soltis. / the pirates hadn't argued, anyway, that he'd heard. / They believe I am their illustrious leader... surely they will obey... /

Deep breath, let out in a slightly-relieved sigh as sleep claimed him again.

Oh, if only he knew.


His eyes didn't want to open.

He made them open anyway, the crusted lids peeling apart under the force of his will, his breath hissing inwards and teeth clenching at the pain of too much light too fast.

Perhaps they had the right idea after all... Ramirez clenched them shut again. How bothersome.

"Hey, I saw that!" someone exclaimed, and the Admiral cautiously re-opened one eye just enough to see the owner of the obnoxiously loud voice. The redhead with the braids, wonderful. She had always struck him, in their few encounters, as the more annoying of the group. Never mind the traitorous Fina, the moronic Vyse, no... -this- one needed to be killed on principal--if for none of the other numerous and valid reasons. He wasn't sure what exactly annoyed him so much, but, she grated on his carefully-smoothed nerves regardless.

And she was talking to him, he'd just woken back up, and... he didn't even know her blasted name. This wouldn't do, if he was to keep his movements unhindered by continuing the facade pressed onto him.

So he did the most childish thing that came to mind.

Ramirez shut his eye, and feigned sleep.

"Oh." the sound was barely a breath from the door, disappointed and quiet, but he knew who that was. "Did he wake?"

"Aah, for a moment." then, in a tone that made him instinctually want to sit upright and glare, to foil whatever was planned, "Come on Fina, I've got an idea."

Footsteps, both women left the room. Ramirez continued his slow, steady breathing, despite having that -feeling- between the shoulder-blades. That one he associated with having a gun pointed at him, the bearer squeezing the trigger...

"Pow! POW!"

-THUMP-

Yelping in surprise, the Admiral sat bolt upright and stared disbelieving at the object that had landed on him. Purple and white fur, big eyes, wagging tail.

"Pow!" it barked again, looking far too pleased to be here. Ramirez turned his shocked stare towards the two laughing girls in the doorway, the redhead nearly bent-over in mirth and Fina giggling behind her hand.

"You sh..." was choked out between laughs, "should kno... know better by... now, Vyse!"

"That was so mean, Aika!" Fina still giggled anyway.

"But funny!"

"But funny." the blonde lady agreed.

/ And now I know your name, pest. / Ramirez thought triumphantly, and the odd glint to his borrowed brown eyes made the two pause.

"Are you feeling better now, Vyse?" Fina sounded (and looked) entirely unsure now, and more than a little concerned. For the air pirate, the thief. Feh.

"Not particularly." Ramirez said, not caring if what would be deadpan from his own throat came out -sulky- from this one. Still, he found his hand was scratching the animal behind the ears, which it was leaning into to the point of almost tipping over.

"You sure are acting weird." Aika observed. Surely, she was the pirate queen of the vague and tactful. Ramirez mentally snorted.

"Where are we, currently?" the Admiral asked, brushing aside her statement with... apparently... an alien ease. Something Vyse had never learned to do, apparently, and more foolish he.

"Just approaching Crescent Isle. Vyse, you better tell me what's up with you, and pronto! What did that rock -do- to you?"

"Crescent Isle?" Ramirez rubbed his forehead, or... at least... he started to until he encountered the strap crossing it. Thus reminded, he dropped his hand back down. Wonderful, he was getting a headache, and apparently the pirates didn't know what -listening to orders- entailed. Just fucking wonderful, this would be worse than a ship full of fresh cadets.

"Vy-yse, I'm warning you!" Aika advanced in what, he supposed, was supposed to be a threatening manner. He didn't flinch, instead he reached back up and pulled the hated lens off of his head, dropping it nonchalantly on the cot for the Huskra to investigate.

"I don't know what it did." he answered truthfully, "I don't feel like myself, and I won't until we at least reach Soltis... if even then."

"Like -hell-, Vyse. You're not fighting that lunatic until we're at least sure you're not sick."

Moons, did she ever stop? And Fina... she was staying well out of this, he noticed, though she still stood in the doorway.

"As you wish." Ramirez conceded, bitterly. There was no way he'd out-stubborn her when he didn't even know what was going on... what was the rock that she'd mentioned? Had it been the thing to make this unexpected and unexplained switch? At least his own ignorance gave him an excuse for anything he did... out of character. A few battles and second-hand accounts did not an imitator make, there was no way he'd be able to completely fake the personality of this most infuriating stranger.

Blasted air pirate couldn't even keep his own crew in line, that much was clear. How utterly incompetent. And yet, this band of criminals had escaped Valua twice, kidnaped and brainwashed the crowned Prince, gathered the Moon Crystals, -and- they had beaten Lord Galcian. That last bit made his blood pound harder in his borrowed veins, and his gaze narrow, but he held it down. -Ramirez- was not an undisciplined air pirate, he was an Admiral of Lord Galcian's Armada, a Silvite warrior, and he -would- resist decapitating the lot of them.

At least until Soltis.

"Well... uh..." Aika started, taken aback by her childhood friend's strange behavior, "we'll meet you on the bridge. Come on, Fina!"

"Pow! Pow!" the Huskra scrambled off the cot and followed the two girls out of the cabin, leaving the lens on the covers.

Ramirez sighed, shutting his eyes a moment to steel himself against the rest of the day. Just getting to the bridge was likely to be an ordeal, and he forced himself to -accept- as much, even as he swung his legs--one at a time--over the side of the cot from under the cover, so that he now sat on the edge.

/ Right, then. /

Picking up the leather and glass device still laying on the bed, Ramirez opened his eyes and--slowly--stood up. This felt extremely odd, as though his brain hadn't yet fully settled into the controls of the body, but other than that it went without issue. He slowly looked around the room, and, spying an empty shelf, moved to place the lense there. He would not wear it unless he absolutely had to, but, at the same time he couldn't just leave it laying around.

Perhaps he was a bit of a neat freak, perhaps it was the military training, or perhaps it was both combined with procrastination... but Ramirez even went so far as to make the bed. Finally, he was faced with only one remaining task before he'd have to find the bridge, and he lifted his enemy's sword-belt from where it hung over the back of the room's only chair. This part felt -wrong-, more so than anything else so far, but he buckled the wide belt around his borrowed waist anyway.

It was strange, having two swords on him. Two swords that had clashed with Lord Galcian's, that had clashed with -his-, that had sought his own blood and felled so many Valuans. Keeping in mind that they were supposed to be nothing out of the ordinary to him, Ramirez quelled his hesitation and drew the main blade, eyeing its moonstone edge critically. How ironic it would be, when this sword bit into the necks and backs of the air pirates, severing their arteries and spilling their life's blood. Would he even tell them that he was not Vyse? Probably not, no, let them go to hell with the bitter taste of betrayal on their lips.

The foul creatures deserved it.

He returned the blade to its sheath and left the room. Here, at least, he knew where he was going... this was a Valuan Flagship, after all, and the Delphinus besides. The very prototype that his own Monoceros had been modeled after.

Ramirez reached the bridge without incident, though he received many strange looks from passing crew-members. Opening the door to the too-decorative chamber, the 'Captain' entered without pause, and moved to stand behind the silent helmsman. Ramirez never sat in the chair reserved for him on the Monoceros, but at the same time, he never piloted the massive Flagship either. As interested as he had always been in ships and sailing, though he told himself that interest was long since passed, he hadn't a clue as to how to actually guide the machine. Therefore, it was always Vice-Captain Serak, or -his- reserve Helmsman, who stood at the wheel of the Monoceros.

But apparently that wasn't how things were done here.

"We're nearly within sight of Crescent Isle, Captain. Do you want the wheel?"

The Silvite managed to not blink, simply shaking his head in reply. The Helmsman wanted him to guide a Flagship into that underground dock that he'd heard reports of? That wasn't going to happen... Ramirez needed this ship in one piece to bear him to Soltis, not docked for weeks in repairs because 'Captain Vyse' had scraped it against the island or rammed it into the dock. And if his refusal to take the wheel earned him more strange looks from everyone involved, save perhaps the quiet man at the wheel? Then too bad.

Admiral Ramirez wasn't quite that stupid, thank you.

"Hey, Vyse! Look!" Aika bounded up next to him, grabbing his shoulder with one hand and pointing enthusiastically with the other. Following her hand's jabbing aim, he looked out the windows to the side to see a sizeable wooden sailboat, bearing--what else--air pirate insignia.

"Your Dad's following us in!" the redhead beamed, "And I bet he brought a ton of loqua!"

Ramirez couldn't wait, surely. When the Delphinus finally made it to the island and docked, he claimed a sudden queasiness (an excuse that would never work with -his- men, properly trained as they were), and followed the enthusiastic crew to the surface. His intention was to find Vyse's quarters, sit down, and think for a good long while... alone.

Obviously this wasn't destined to happen anytime soon.

"You're late, Vyse." a voice gruffed from behind him, and Ramirez turned.

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Skies of Arcadia Legends © someone else.
All here that is not found in the game... is mine.
Never steal if you value your spleen.

Reviews are lovely, reviews make the Aro happy, and a happy Aro is more inspired to write.

However, they are not absolutely required, and flames will result in a very annoyed Aro. I'm not forcing you to read my stuff, you must realize. So I've no sympathy for you if you read it, hate it, and yet can't keep your pointer off the review button.

Constructive criticism is awesome, mind, but I can tell thinly-veiled sarcasm when I see it.

Leland Lancaster: Thanks. :D
Now let's hope Vyse doesn't get gnawed on too much before "the heroic trio" gets there. Hee. ;)

delphinusforever: Dear, for one, I happen to be juggling something near a dozen stories. Just because I update one doesn't mean I've abandoned the others.
For another, going off your recent reviews of both stories... if I'm that confusing, maybe you shouldn't be reading my stuff? Not trying to drive you off, or something, but clearly something is incompatible here.
Thanks for the review...

Chris Pete: I'm not gonna be explaining symbolism, since it's something the characters themselves will work out as the story progresses and they remember more. :)
Sorry. ;) Thanks for the review, though!